There is no official confirmation from the horse’s mouth but Times Online, the Guardian and The Telegraph — all carry the story. It appears that it’s only a matter of time before Rio puts pen to paper and that the club is waiting for it to officially happen before announcing. While there hasn’t been any direct quotes, it looks like it will happen sooner rather than later.
Now we’ve had an outstanding season so far, by any yardstick. We have been among the most entertaining, destructive and versatile teams in Europe so far. But like with all teams we do have our chinks. One that sticks out is our lack of leadership on the pitch. Or let’s put it this way, I can’t entirely agree with Fergie’s choice of captain. While Gary Neville is a good choice and I would find it hard to dispute it, I can’t understand why Giggs would still be persisted with that role. Don’t get me wrong. I love Giggs to bits. Fergie, I’d imagine also loves and respects his seniority. But Giggs, the great player he’s been is not captaincy material by any distance. He’s too nice a guy — at least that’s how he appears to be.
Rio Ferdinand on the other hand has had to work his way into the hearts of the Old Trafford faithful. His protracted contract wrangle and his missed drugs test had a lot of fans questioning his price tag. This season (and to a lesser extent last season) he has been in the form of his life. But more importantly has shown the desire to win. He’s had minimal lapses in concentration, he’s always forced his mates to stay focused; a case in point being against Arsenal after Ronaldo’s goal.
He’s impressed me as a player, no doubt. But he’s done even better as captain. Fabio Capello saw it fit to hand him the England armband which is a sign of his growing stature and maturity as a player. And I just feel, with Neville’s age and injury fears, Fergie must look at a longer term option like Rio.
What do you think? Should he be our captain from next season?
